Ian E. Muller - MIT Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com/stream/23351/?sort=recent
enScan Anything and Let Your Phone Do the Resthttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/425907/scan-anything-and-let-your-phone-do-the-rest/
<p>A new app lets users capture visual and audio input with a smart phone and search for related information.</p><p>Many people rely on their smart phones to search for things online. At the movies, users might try to identify an actor from a film trailer. At a concert, they might hear a song and check which album it was on. When shopping, they might try to find the best deal on a product by searching nearby stores. Apps that identify songs, images, and video, or that read barcodes, make it easier to do this. </p>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/news/425907/scan-anything-and-let-your-phone-do-the-rest/Google Flight Search Suffers Some Turbulencehttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/425532/google-flight-search-suffers-some-turbulence/
<p>It may work with jetlike speed, but other services still offer greater choice.</p><p>In April this year, <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/ita-software-acquisition-cleared-for.html" target="_blank">Google</a> <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/ita-software-acquisition-cleared-for.html" target="_blank">bought</a> <a href="http://www.itasoftware.com/" target="_blank">ITA</a> <a href="http://www.itasoftware.com/" target="_blank">Software</a>, a company that provides airfare data to travel sites including <a href="http://www.kayak.com/" target="_blank">Kayak</a>, <a href="http://www.hipmunk.com/" target="_blank">Hipmunk</a>, and <a href="http://www.orbitz.com/" target="_blank">Orbitz</a>. This month, after the U.S. Department of Justice gave permission for the acquisition of ITA under conditions designed to maintain healthy competition in the sector, Google launched its own travel service, called <a href="http://www.google.com/flights/" target="_blank">Flight Search</a>.</p>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/news/425532/google-flight-search-suffers-some-turbulence/A Simpler Approach to Online Identityhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/425339/a-simpler-approach-to-online-identity/
<p>A new service, backed by Google, lets you log in to any site using one Web account.</p><p>Many people struggle to remember scores of passwords for different websites. They often have to reset an account or dig through years of e-mail to find stored log-in information. A common trick is to use the same password for lots of accounts, but this can be a security risk, potentially allowing many accounts to be hijacked at once.<br /><br /> Even as identity becomes increasingly important online, it is becoming more fragmented, with users signing up for ever more websites and services. <a href="http://www.accountchooser.com/" target="_blank">Account Chooser</a>, a new service launched by the <a href="http://openid.net/foundation/" target="_blank">OpenID Foundation</a>, an organization that includes the major websites Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo, is the latest effort to solve this problem. Instead of having to create yet another account, Account Chooser lets users choose one account—their Gmail or Facebook log-in, for example—and then use it to log in to many other sites. The technology was developed by <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/ericsachs2/" target="_blank">Eric Sachs</a>, a Google project manager and OpenID Foundation board member. Google is backing the project by hosting the code.</p>Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/news/425339/a-simpler-approach-to-online-identity/GPS App Keeps Drivers' Eyes on the Roadhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/425258/gps-app-keeps-drivers-eyes-on-the-road/
<p>An Android app navigates via camera images of the actual road—and any obstacles that might be there at the moment.</p><p>Many drivers use GPS to find their way, but shifting their attention to the maps on the device can distract them from actual driving. A new app, <a href="http://www.wikitude.com/en/drive" target="_blank">Wikitude</a> <a href="http://www.wikitude.com/en/drive" target="_blank">Drive</a>, aims to help drivers navigate without diverting their attention away from the road. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/philippbreussschneeweis" target="_blank">Philipp</a> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/philippbreussschneeweis" target="_blank">Breuss</a><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/philippbreussschneeweis" target="_blank">-</a><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/philippbreussschneeweis" target="_blank">Schneeweis</a>, founder of Wikitude GmbH, the Austrian company that developed the app, claims that “seeing the cars in front of you in the camera image can help you to avoid a crash. Many accidents actually happen when drivers look at the navigation system and the car ahead stops.”</p>Mon, 29 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/news/425258/gps-app-keeps-drivers-eyes-on-the-road/